John Self: the actor

John Self's opinion of actors is a generally negative one.  He makes a specific point to call out " the actors of real life you want to watch--yeah, and the actresses" (175).  John is a character in a book, but Amis' narrative style makes the reader feel as if he or she is watching a play or a film.  John Self is playing a role.  He himself is a real life actor playing the part of a low-life, money obsessed, sex crazed advertising director.  John Self, when discussing his paranoia compares his aggressive, concerned glare to that of an actor.  "I don't mind, happens all the time.  If a car follows me round two corners, I narrow my gaze and tighten my hold on the wheel, covertly, like an actor" (223).  

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances" (II.VII)  Much like Shakespeare writes, John Self is just a man interacting with other actors or characters in his reality.  He is only worried about Money, and is merely a pawn in Amis' narrative.  John himself says, "Actors are paid to pretend that they are unaware of being watched, but they of course rely on the collusion of the watcher, and nearly always get it.  There are unpaid actors too (I thought): it's them you really have to watch" (126).  Ultimately John Self is describing the existence of himself in Money.  He is an actor performing a part, pretending that he is just a regular person, living his life.  But when he addresses the reader, it is the same collusion between actor and audience.  He relies on the reader, and is not getting paid directly to "act", and is yet again warning the readre about his debauched actions.